Divine Office Office of Readings

Feb 11, Invitatory for Wednesday of the 5th week of Ordinary Time

Lord, open my lips. — And my mouth will proclaim your praise. Ant. Come, let us worship before the Lord, our maker. Psalm 95 Come, let us sing to the Lord and shout with joy to the Rock who saves us. Let us approach him with praise and thanksgiving and sing joyful songs to the Lord. Ant. Come, let us worship before the Lord, our maker. The Lord is God, the mighty God, the great king over all the gods. He holds in his hands the depths of the earth and the highest mountains as well He made the sea; it belongs to him, the dry land, too, for it was formed by his hands. Ant. Come, let us worship before the Lord, our maker. Come, then, let us bow down and worship, bending the knee before the Lord, our maker, For he is our God and we are his people, the flock he shepherds. Ant. Come, let us worship before the Lord, our maker. Today, listen to the voice of the Lord: Do not grow stubborn, as your fathers did in the wilderness, when at Meriba and Massah they challenged me and provoked me, Although they had seen all of my works. Ant. Come, let us worship before the Lord, our maker. Forty years I endured that generation. I said, “They are a people whose hearts go astray and they do not know my ways.” So I swore in my anger, “They shall not enter into my rest.” Ant. Come, let us worship before the Lord, our maker. Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit: — as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be for ever. Amen. Ant. Come, let us worship before the Lord, our maker.

Feb 11, Office of Readings for Wednesday of the 5th week of Ordinary Time

Ribbon Placement: Liturgy of the Hours Vol. III: Ordinary: 651 Proper of Seasons: 181 Psalter: Wednesday, Week I, 744 Office of Readings for Wednesday in Ordinary Time God, come to my assistance. — Lord, make haste to help me. Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit: — as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be for ever. Amen. Alleluia. HYMN Brightness of the Father's glory Springing from eternal light, Source of light by light engendered. Day enlightening every day. In your ever-lasting radiance Shine upon us, Christ, true sun, Bringing life to mind and body Through the Holy Spirit's pow'r. Father of unfading glory. Rich in grace and Strong to save. Hear our prayers and come to save us, Keep us far from sinful ways. Dawn is drawing ever nearer, Dawn that brings us all we seek, Son who dwells within the Father, Father uttering one Word. Glory be to God the Father. Glory to his Only Son, Glory now and through all ages To the Spirit Advocate. 𝄞"Brightness of the Father's Glory" by Gabe Bouck, Rebecca Hincke • Available for Purchase [https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08NTMZS39/ref=dm_ws_tlw_trk1] • Musical Score [https://divineoffice.org/wp-content/uploads/Brightness-of-the-Fathers-glory.pdf] • Title: Brightness of the Father's Glory; Text: Mount Saint Bernard Abbey; Tune: SHARON by William Boyce, 1710-1799; Artists: Gabe Bouck and Rebecca Hincke; (c) 2016 Surgeworks, Inc. • Albums that contain this Hymn: Hymns and Chants of Divine Office, Vol. 4 PSALMODY Ant. 1 I love you, Lord; you are my strength. Psalm 18 Thanksgiving for salvation and victory At that time there was a violent earthquake (Revelation 11:13). I I love you, Lord, my strength, my rock, my fortress, my savior. My God is the rock where I take refuge; my shield, my mighty help, my stronghold. The Lord is worthy of all praise; when I call I am saved from my foes. The waves of death rose about me; the torrents of destruction assailed me; the snares of the grave entangled me; the traps of death confronted me. In my anguish I called to the Lord; I cried to my God for help. From his temple he heard my voice; my cry came to his ears. Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit: — as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be for ever. Amen. Ant. I love you, Lord; you are my strength. Ant. 2 The Lord has saved me; he wanted me for his own. II Then the earth reeled and rocked; the mountains were shaken to their base: they reeled at his terrible anger. Smoke came forth from his nostrils and scorching fire from his mouth: coals were set ablaze by its heat. He lowered the heavens and came down, a black cloud under his feet. He came enthroned on the cherubim, he flew on the wings of the wind. He made the darkness his covering, the dark waters of the clouds, his tent. A brightness shone out before him with hailstones and flashes of fire. The Lord thundered in the heavens; the Most High let his voice be heard. He shot his arrows, scattered the foe, flashed his lightnings and put them to flight. The bed of the ocean was revealed; the foundations of the world were laid bare at the thunder of your threat, O Lord, at the blast of the breath of your anger. From on high he reached down and seized me; he drew me forth from the mighty waters. He snatched me from my powerful foe, from my enemies whose strength I could not match. They assailed me in the day of my misfortune, but the Lord was my support. He brought me forth into freedom, he saved me because he loved me. Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit: — as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be for ever. Amen. Ant. The Lord has saved me; he wanted me for his own. Ant. 3 Lord, kindle a light for my guidance and scatter my darkness. III He rewarded me because I was just, repaid me, for my hands were clean, for I have kept the way of the Lord and have not fallen away from my God. For his judgments are all before me: I have never neglected his commands. I have always been upright before him; I have kept myself from guilt. He repaid me because I was just and my hands were clean in his eyes. You are loving with those who love you: you show yourself perfect with the perfect. With the sincere you show yourself sincere, but the cunning you outdo in cunning. For you save a humble people but humble the eyes that are proud. You, O Lord, are my lamp, my God who lightens my darkness. With you I can break through any barrier, with my God I can scale any wall. Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit: — as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be for ever. Amen. Psalm-prayer Lord God, our strength and salvation, put in us the flame of your love and make our love for you grow to a perfect love which reaches to our neighbor. Ant. Lord, kindle a light for my guidance and scatter my darkness. Sacred Silence (indicated by a bell) A moment to reflect and receive in our hearts the full resonance of the voice of the Holy Spirit and to unite our personal prayer more closely with the word of God and public voice of the Church. All wondered at the words of grace. — Which came from the mouth of the Lord. READINGS First reading From the letter to the Galatians 3:15—4:7 The purpose of the law Brothers, let me give you an everyday example. You cannot add anything to a man’s will or set it aside once it is legally validated. There were promises spoken to Abraham and to his “descendant.” Scripture does not say “and to your descendants,” as if it applied to many, but as if it applied only to one, “and to your descendant”; that is, to Christ. My point is this: a covenant formally ratified by God is not set aside as invalid by any law that came into being four hundred and thirty years later, nor is its promise nullified. Clearly, if one’s inheritance comes through the law, it is no longer conferred in virtue of the promise. Yet it was by way of promise that God granted Abraham his privilege. What is the relevance of the law, in such case? It was given in view of transgressions and promulgated by angels, at the hands of a mediator; it was to be valid only until that descendant or offspring came to whom the promise had been given. Now there can be no mediator when only one person is involved; and God is one. Does this mean that the law is opposed to the promises [of God]? Again, unthinkable! If the law that was given was such that it could impart life, then justice would be a consequence of the law. In fact, however, Scripture has locked all things in under the constraint of sin. Why? So that the promise might be fulfilled in those who believe, in consequence of faith in Jesus Christ. Before faith came we were under the constraint of the law, locked in until the faith that was coming should be revealed. In other words, the law was our monitor until Christ came to bring about our justification through faith. But now that faith is here, we are no longer in the monitor’s charge. Each one of you is a son of God because of your faith in Christ Jesus. All of you who have been baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with him. There does not exist among you Jew or Greek, slave or freeman, male or female. All are one in Christ Jesus. Furthermore, if you belong to Christ you are the descendants of Abraham, which means you inherit all that was promised. Brothers: as long as a designated heir is not of age his condition is no different from that of a slave, even though in name he is master of all his possessions; for he is under the supervision of guardians and administrators until the time set by his father. In the same way, while we were not yet of age we were like slaves subordinated to the elements of the world. But when the designated time had come, God sent forth his Son born of a woman, born under the law, to deliver from the law those who were subjected to it, so that we might receive our status as adopted sons. The proof that you are sons is the fact that God has sent forth into our hearts the spirit of his Son which cries out “Abba!” (“Father!”) You are no longer a slave but a son! And the fact that you are a son makes you an heir, by God’s design. RESPONSORY Galatians 3:27, 28; Ephesians 4:24 All of you who have been baptized in Christ, have put on Christ. Now there is neither Jew nor Greek; — you are all one in Christ Jesus. You must put on the new man created in the image of God, in true justice and in holiness. — You are all one in Christ Jesus. Second reading From a letter by Saint Ambrose, bishop We are heirs of God, coheirs with Christ The person who puts to death by the Spirit the deeds of our sinful nature will live, says the Apostle. This is not surprising since one who has the Spirit of God becomes a child of God. So true is it that he is a child of God that he receives not a spirit that enslaves but the Spirit that makes us sons. So much so that the Holy Spirit bears witness to our spirit that we are sons of God. This is the witness of the Holy Spirit: he cries out in our hearts, Abba, Father as we read in the letter to the Galatians. There is also that other great testimony to the fact that we are sons of God: we are heirs of God, coheirs with Christ. A coheir of Christ is one who is glorified along with Christ. The one who is glorified along with him is one who, by suffering for him, suffers along with him. To encourage us in suffering, Paul adds that all our sufferings are small in comparison with the wonderful reward that will be revealed in us; our labors do not deserve the blessings that are to come. We shall be restored to the likeness of God, and counted worthy of seeing him face to face. He enhances the greatness of the revelation that is to come by adding that creation also looks forward to this revealing of the sons of God. Creation, he says, is at present condemned to frustration, not of its own choice, but it lives in hope. Its hope is in Christ, as it awaits the grace of his ministry; or it hopes that it will share in the glorious freedom of the sons of God and be freed from its bondage to corruption, so that there will be one freedom, shared by creation and by the sons of God when their glory will be revealed. At present, however, while this revealing is delayed, all creation groans as it looks forward to the glory of adoption and redemption; it is already in labor with that spirit of salvation, and is anxious to be freed from its subjection to frustration. The meaning is clear: those who have the firstfruits of the Spirit are groaning in expectation of the adoption of sons. This adoption of sons is that of the whole body of creation, when it will be as it were a son of God and see the divine, eternal goodness face to face. The adoption of the sons is present in the Church of the Lord when the Spirit cries out: Abba, Father, as you read in the letter to the Galatians. But it will be perfect when all who are worthy of seeing the face of God rise in incorruption, in honor and in glory. Then our humanity will know that it has been truly redeemed. So Paul glories in saying: We are saved by hope. Hope saves, just as faith does, for of faith it is said: Your faith has saved you. RESPONSORY Romans 8:17; 5:9 We are God’s heirs and coheirs with Christ, — If only we suffer with him so that we may also be glorified with him. Now that we have been justified in his blood, it is all the more likely that he will save us from God’s anger. — If only we suffer with him so that we may also be glorified with him. CONCLUDING PRAYER Keep your family safe, O Lord, with unfailing care, that, relying solely on the hope of heavenly grace, they may be defended always by your protection. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever. — Amen. ACCLAMATION (at least in the communal celebration) Let us praise the Lord. — And give him thanks.

Feb 12, Invitatory for Thursday of the 5th week of Ordinary Time

Lord, open my lips. — And my mouth will proclaim your praise. Ant. Come, let us worship the Lord, the Lord is our God. Psalm 67 O God, be gracious and bless us and let your face shed its light upon us. So will your ways be known upon earth and all nations learn your saving help. Ant. Come, let us worship the Lord, the Lord is our God. Let the peoples praise you, O God; let all the peoples praise you. Ant. Come, let us worship the Lord, the Lord is our God. Let the nations be glad and exult for you rule the world with justice. With fairness you rule the peoples, you guide the nations on earth. Ant. Come, let us worship the Lord, the Lord is our God. Let the peoples praise you, O God; let all the peoples praise you. Ant. Come, let us worship the Lord, the Lord is our God. The earth has yielded its fruit for God, our God, has blessed us. May God still give us his blessing till the ends of the earth revere him. Ant. Come, let us worship the Lord, the Lord is our God. Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit: — as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be for ever. Amen. Ant. Come, let us worship the Lord, the Lord is our God.

Feb 12, Office of Readings for Thursday of the 5th week of Ordinary Time

Ribbon Placement: Liturgy of the Hours Vol. III: Ordinary: 651 Proper of Seasons: 185 Psalter: Thursday, Week I, 765 Office of Readings for Thursday in Ordinary Time God, come to my assistance. — Lord, make haste to help me. Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit: — as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be for ever. Amen. Alleluia. HYMN Be thou my vision, through night and come day Light on me always, thy spirit to stay Thou, eternal father, the great and the last The wise and true sov’reign of all that shall pass. Be thou my wisdom, my staff and my stay, Shine through the darkness, give light to my way! Be thou the true source of all I enjoy So, let carnal pleasures no longer annoy. Be thou my guardian my sword in the fight Be thou my dignity thou my delight Thou my soul’s shelter, and thou my high tow’r Wilt thou raise me heaven ward, o pow’r of my pow’r. Riches I heed not, or man’s empty praise Thou my inheritance, now and always Thou and thou only, still first in my heart The high king of heaven my treasure thou art. High king of heaven, my victory won May I reach heaven’s joys, o bright heaven’s sun! Heart of my own heart, whatever befall Still be thou my vision, o ruler of all. 𝄞"Be Thou My Vision" by Rebecca Hincke • Available for Purchase [https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08NQ34YZ4/ref=dm_ws_tlw_trk10] • Musical Score [https://divineoffice.org/wp-content/uploads/Be-Thou-My-Vision.pdf] • Title: Be Thou My Vision; Text: from Mark Hamilton Dewey's SSATBB arrangement; Tune: SLANE; Copyright: Public Domain; Artist: Rebecca Hincke; (c) 2017 Surgeworks, Inc. • Albums that contain this Hymn: The Hymns and Chants of Divine Office, Vol. 1 PSALMODY Ant. 1 The word of the Lord is a strong shield for all who put their trust in him. Psalm 18:31-51 Hymn of thanksgiving If God is on our side who can be against us? (Romans 8:31). IV As for God, his ways are perfect; the word of the Lord, purest gold. He indeed is the shield of all who make him their refuge. For who is God but the Lord? Who is a rock but our God? The God who girds me with strength and makes the path safe before me. My feet you made swift as the deer’s; you have made me stand firm on the heights. You have trained my hands for battle and my arms to bend the heavy bow. Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit: — as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be for ever. Amen. Ant. The word of the Lord is a strong shield for all who put their trust in him. Ant. 2 Your strong right hand has upheld me, Lord. V You gave me your saving shield; you upheld me, trained me with care. You gave me freedom for my steps; my feet have never slipped. I pursued and overtook my foes, never turning back till they were slain. I smote them so they could not rise; they fell beneath my feet. You girded me with strength for battle; you made my enemies fall beneath me, you made my foes take flight; those who hated me I destroyed. They cried, but there was no one to save them; they cried to the Lord, but in vain. I crushed them fine as dust before the wind; trod them down like dirt in the streets. You saved me from the feuds of the people and put me at the head of the nations. People unknown to me served me: when they heard of me they obeyed me. Foreign nations came to me cringing: foreign nations faded away. They came trembling out of their strongholds. Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit: — as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be for ever. Amen. Ant. Your strong right hand has upheld me, Lord. Ant. 3 May the living God, my Savior, be praised for ever. VI Long life to the Lord, my rock! Praised be the God who saves me, the God who gives me redress and subdues people under me. You saved me from my furious foes. You set me above my assailants. You saved me from violent men, so I will praise you, Lord, among the nations: I will sing a psalm to your name. He has given great victories to his king and shown his love for his anointed, for David and his sons for ever. Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit: — as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be for ever. Amen. Psalm-prayer Lord God, our strength and salvation, put in us the flame of your love and make our love for you grow to a perfect love which reaches to our neighbor. Ant. May the living God, my Savior, be praised for ever. Sacred Silence (indicated by a bell) A moment to reflect and receive in our hearts the full resonance of the voice of the Holy Spirit and to unite our personal prayer more closely with the word of God and public voice of the Church. Open my eyes, Lord, that I may see. — The wonders of your law. READINGS First reading From the letter to the Galatians 4:8-31 Our divine inheritance and the freedom of the new covenant In the past, when you did not acknowledge God, you served as slaves to gods who are not really divine. Now that you have come to know God—or rather, have been known by him—how can you return to those powerless, worthless, natural elements to which you seem willing to enslave yourselves once more? You even go so far as to keep the ceremonial observance of days and months, seasons and years! I fear for you; all my efforts with you may have been wasted. I beg you, brothers, to become like me as I became like you. (Understand, you have not done me any wrong.) You are aware that it was a bodily ailment that first occasioned my bringing you the gospel. My physical condition was a challenge which you did not despise or brush aside in disgust. On the contrary, you took me to yourselves as an angel of God, even as if I had been Christ Jesus! What has happened to your openhearted spirit? I can testify on your behalf that if it were possible you would have plucked out your eyes and given them to me. Have I become your enemy just because I tell you the truth? The people I have referred to are not courting your favor in any generous spirit. What they really want is to exclude you so that you may court their favor. It would be well for you to be courted for the right reasons at all times, and not only when I happen to be with you. You are my children, and you put me back in labor pains until Christ is formed in you. If only I could be with you now and speak to you differently! You have me at a complete loss! You who want to be subject to the law, tell me: do you know what the law has to say? There it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by the slave girl, the other by his freeborn wife. The son of the slave girl had been begotten in the course of nature, but the son of the free woman was the fruit of the promise. All this is an allegory: the two women stand for the two covenants. One is from Mount Sinai, and brought forth children to slavery: this is Hagar. The mountain Sinai [Hagar] is in Arabia and corresponds to the Jerusalem of our time, which is likewise in slavery with her children. But the Jerusalem on high is freeborn, and it is she who is our mother. That is why Scripture says: “Rejoice, you barren one who bear no children; break into song, you stranger to the pains of childbirth! For many are the children of the wife deserted — far more than of her who has a husband!” You, my brothers, are children of the promise, as Isaac was. But just as in those days the son born in nature’s course persecuted the one whose birth was in the realm of spirit, so do we find it now. What does Scripture say on the point? “Cast out slave girl and son together; for the slave girl’s son shall never be an heir on equal terms with the son” of the one born free. Therefore, my brothers, we are not children of a slave girl but of a mother who is free. It was for liberty that Christ freed us. RESPONSORY Galatians 4:28, 31; 2 Corinthians 3:17 We are like Isaac, children born of the promise, not children born of the slave, but of the free woman. — Christ has set us free to be free men. The Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. — Christ has set us free to be free men. Second reading From an explanation of Paul’s letter to the Galatians by Saint Augustine, bishop Let Christ be formed in you. The Apostle says, Be like me, for though born a Jew, by reason of spiritual discernment I now consider carnal things of small importance. And he adds, For I am as you are, that is to say: For I, like you, am a man. Then he tactfully reminds them of his love so that they will not look on him as an enemy: Brothers, I beseech you, he says, you did me no wrong, as if to say, “Do not imagine that I want to wrong you.” And to have them imitate him as they would a parent, he addresses them as little children: My little children, with whom I am again in labor until Christ be formed in you. Actually he is here speaking more in the person of Mother Church than his own. So too he says elsewhere: I was gentle among you like a nurse fondling her little ones. Christ is formed in the believer by faith of the inner man, called to the freedom that grace bestows, meek and gentle, not boasting of non-existent merits, but through grace making some beginning of merit. Hence he can be called “my least one” by him who said: Inasmuch as you did it to the least of my brethren you did it to me. Christ is formed in him who receives Christ’s mould, who clings to him in spiritual love. By imitating him he becomes, as far as is possible to his condition, what Christ is. John says: He who remains in Christ should walk as he did. Children are conceived in order to be formed in their mother’s womb, and when they have been so formed, mothers are in travail to give them birth. We can thus understand Paul’s words: With whom I am in labor until Christ be formed in you. By labor we understand his anxiety for those with whom he is in travail, that they be born unto Christ. And he is again in labor when he sees them in danger of being led astray. These anxieties, which can be likened to the pangs of childbirth, will continue until they come to full age in Christ, so as not to be moved by every wind of doctrine. He is not therefore talking about the beginnings of faith by which they were born, but of strong and perfect faith when he says: With whom I am again in labor until Christ be formed in you. He also refers elsewhere in different words to his being in labor, when he says: There is the daily pressure upon me of my anxiety for all the churches. Who is weak and I am not weak? Who is made to fall, and I am not indignant? RESPONSORY Ephesians 4:15; Proverbs 4:18 Let us speak the truth in love — so that in all things we may grow into Christ who is our Head. The path of the just is like the passage of the dawn; it grows from first light to the full splendor of day. — So that in all things we may grow into Christ who is our Head. CONCLUDING PRAYER Keep your family safe, O Lord, with unfailing care, that, relying solely on the hope of heavenly grace, they may be defended always by your protection. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever. — Amen. ACCLAMATION (at least in the communal celebration) Let us praise the Lord. — And give him thanks.

Feb 14, Invitatory for Saturday of the 5th week of Ordinary Time

Lord, open my lips. — And my mouth will proclaim your praise. Ant. Come, let us worship God who brings the world and its wonders from darkness into light. Psalm 100 Cry out with joy to the Lord, all the earth. Serve the Lord with gladness. Come before him, singing for joy. Ant. Come, let us worship God who brings the world and its wonders from darkness into light. Know that he, the Lord, is God. He made us, we belong to him, we are his people, the sheep of his flock. Ant. Come, let us worship God who brings the world and its wonders from darkness into light. Go within his gates, giving thanks. Enter his courts with songs of praise. Give thanks to him and bless his name. Ant. Come, let us worship God who brings the world and its wonders from darkness into light. Indeed, how good is the Lord, eternal his merciful love. He is faithful from age to age. Ant. Come, let us worship God who brings the world and its wonders from darkness into light. Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit: — as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be for ever. Amen. Ant. Come, let us worship God who brings the world and its wonders from darkness into light.